Berkeley Lab's Biological Systems and Engineering Division has an opening for a Research Associate (RA) to work with the Keasling research group. The Keasling research group is building a robust, automated, pipeline to support engineering biology for small molecule production. The RA will perform semi-routine research assignments including helping to build and sustain a high throughput microbial transformation, growth, and extraction platform that is adaptable to a wide variety of organisms and products. The successful candidate will be responsible for testing and recording a variety of different culture media, growth conditions, and extraction protocols and using the findings to help researchers develop best practices and standard protocols for their strains and projects. The Research Associate will also be expected to track how the small-scale performance of strains analyzed correlates to these strains' performance at larger volumes.

What You Will Do:

Transform, grow, and extract a broad array of microbial strains in a multi-well plate format.

Help develop protocols for improving growth, productivity, and analysis of engineered microorganism.

Help ensure smooth transition of projects from individual researchers and members of the DNA build team through to researchers and staff on the analysis team.

Collect data for publication in scientific journals and presentations at seminars.

Collect, organize, store, and share large data sets

Keep an up-to-date electronic notebook.

What is Required:

Bachelor's degree in Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Biological Engineering, Natural Products Chemistry, or related field preferred and up to a few years of related experience.

Experience in transforming and growing a wide range of microorganisms, including both eukaryotes and prokaryotes.

Experience with extraction and analysis of small molecules from cultures.

Experience working with liquid handling robots.

Excellent organizational, analytical, and record-keeping skills with the ability to present technical reports to collaborators, staff, management, and sponsors.

Effective problem-solving and decision-making skills with the ability to troubleshoot experimental processes and provide analysis.

Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively and interact with a broad range of colleagues with tact and diplomacy.

Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work in a diverse environment and demonstrated experience preparing research publications.

Ability to take detailed notes so that work can be replicated and develop SOPs.

The posting shall remain open until the position is filled.

Notes:

This is a full time 15 month term appointment with the possibility of extension or conversion to Career appointment based upon satisfactory job performance, continuing availability of funds and ongoing operational needs.

M-F, non-exempt (hourly paid) from overtime pay.

This position is represented by a union for collective bargaining purposes.

Salary is commensurate with experience.

This position may be subject to a background check. Any convictions will be evaluated to determine if they directly relate to the responsibilities and requirements of the position. Having a conviction history will not automatically disqualify an applicant from being considered for employment.

Work will be primarily performed at: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA.

Learn about us!

Biological Systems and Engineering Division

Vision: To lead efforts that combine the power of biology with the tools of engineering to develop sustainable energy and biomanufacturing solutions and improve human health.

Mission:Advance a mechanistic and predictive understanding of complex biological systems over multiple scales in terms of their responses to manipulation, stress, disease and environmental challenges and translate this knowledge using engineering principles to develop resilient systems, tools, and processes for the efficient production of fuels, chemicals, materials, tissues, and therapeutics.

Berkeley Lab

Berkeley Lab (LBNL) addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

Working at Berkeley Lab has many rewards including a competitive compensation program, excellent health and welfare programs, a retirement program that is second to none, and outstanding development opportunities. To view information about the many rewards that are offered at Berkeley Lab- Click Here.

In the world of science, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is synonymous with excellence. Thirteen scientists associated with Berkeley Lab have won the Nobel Prize. Fifty-seven Lab scientists are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. Thirteen of our scientists have won the National Medal of Science, our nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research. Eighteen of our engineers have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and three of our scientists have been elected into the Institute of Medicine. In addition, Berkeley Lab has trained thousands of university science and engineering students who are advancing technological innovations across the nation and around the world. Berkeley Lab is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the University of California (UC) and is charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Located on a 200-acre site in the hills above the UC Berkeley campus that offers spectacular... views of the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley Lab employs approximately 4,200 scientists, engineers, support staff and students. Its budget for 2011 is $735 million, with an additional $101 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, for a total of $836 million. A recent study estimates the Laboratory's overall economic impact through direct, indirect and induced spending on the nine counties that make up the San Francisco Bay Area to be nearly $700 million annually. The Lab was also responsible for creating 5,600 jobs locally and 12,000 nationally. The overall economic impact on the national economy is estimated at $1.6 billion a year. Technologies developed at Berkeley Lab have generated billions of dollars in revenues, and thousands of jobs. Savings as a result of Berkeley Lab developments in lighting and windows, and other energy-efficient technologies, have also been in the billions of dollars. Berkeley Lab was founded in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a UC Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that opened the door to high-energy physics. It was Lawrence's belief that scientific research is best done through teams of individuals with different fields of expertise, working together. His teamwork concept is a Berkeley Lab legacy that continues today.